


Candy Canes

by maddy_does (favefangirl)



Series: Wolfstar Holiday Prompts 2020 [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Normal Life, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Non-specified time period, at least, though c 90s
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:28:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27857562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/favefangirl/pseuds/maddy_does
Summary: Sirius isn't big on festivities. This year might just change that.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Wolfstar Holiday Prompts 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035558
Kudos: 36





	Candy Canes

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [this](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/remus-john-lupin/634951075596828672) prompt set :)

For 11 months out of 12 in a year, Lily Evans was a wonderful woman. Kind, funny, honest, intelligent. It didn’t take much mental gymnastics to figure out quite why James was so in love with her. However, in the month of December something inside her changed. Gone was that wonderful woman, replaced by a mean, neurotic, aggressive beast of a person who was hell bent on spreading festive cheer across every available service, and God help whoever didn’t make it all  _ absolutely perfect _ .

“Sirius!” Lily yelled across the room. “No. Stop it. Those baubles don’t go like that. Are you stupid?”

Honestly, Sirius was just arranging the silver baubles on the tree next to the purple ones. It didn’t seem all that deep to him, but Lily was already storming across the room and ripping his work back off the immaculate 6 foot real pine tree that James and Peter had been forced to drive an hour and a half to collect.

“Just stop it,” Lily scolded, forcing him out of the way. “Go help Remus with the table.”

Sirius just shook his head and reminded himself of how awesome Lily was most of the time. This wasn’t her, it was some Christmas monster that possessed her at some point between November 30th and December 1st. He went to the table without question, regardless, because he wasn’t _actually_ trying to die today.

It was tradition that 12th day before Christmas they would decorate the house and have a pre-Christmas dinner. It was a Pettigrew family tradition, apparently, that Lily had been desperate to adopt, and that naturally the rest of them had been dragged into, some more forcibly than others. Sirius was relatively apathetic towards Christmas, personally. It was a capitalist tool to exploit the masses and no amount of glitter and tinsel was going to disguise that for him. It might have been due to his childhood, having never celebrated it as a kid, but he could just never get into the festive spirit, no matter how hard he tried. 

Remus was putting the place settings down on the table. Last year, Lily had used a protractor and a ruler to get it all perfect and symmetrical. Remus wasn’t quite so anal about it, but he  _ was  _ making sure it was as perfect as possible. Sirius knew that he, too, wasn't the biggest Christmas fan, but he was happy to go along with it all for his friends sake. Still, he was never allowed to touch any of the important decorations when it came to December 13th.

“Ah,” Remus said as Sirius approached, “You’ve been banished to Scrooge’s corner have you?”

“Apparently my baubles weren’t perfectly geometric,” Sirius deadpans. Remus snorts and shakes his head. “How can I ruin the table settings?”

“I’m actually nearly done,” Remus replied, still grinning. “You can help lay the candy canes, though?”

Sirius nodded and went to get the box. Lily was slightly obsessive about making the table look as festive as possible, laying garlands as centre pieces, placing ornate name tags to direct people where to sit, and candy canes and after dinner chocolates for everybody. Remus was laying the chocolates so Sirius went behind him, laying the candy canes. They worked in a companionable silence.

It was always the best kind of torture, being in Remus’ presence. Remus was a perpetual distraction, pulling the sleeves of his threadbare jumpers down over his hands, tousling his own hair as a nervous tick, smiling, laughing, breathing. He was so beautiful it was unfair. Sirius sometimes had to remind himself to look away. It all acted as a reminder of how he felt about him, a reminder he didn’t need.

Ironically, it had been December 13th two years ago when Sirius figured out how he felt (and, two years? Jesus, wasn't that pathetic!) Remus had brought a plus one to dinner, a pretty, tall, blonde woman whose big blue eyes had left them all transfixed. At first Sirius had thought he was jealous of _Remus_ , such a beautiful, intelligent woman on his arm. That, and the fact that Sirius had been the only one there without a date. But as the night drew on, and more alcohol was consumed, Sirius realised that the pull in his stomach every time she placed her lips to Remus' cheek had nothing at all to do with the sticky stain it left behind, and everything to do with the way a blush spread across Remus' cheekbones. 

Sirius had excused himself, much later, really quite drunk, to sit outside and try and get his head straight. Remus was one of his best friends, they'd known each other since they were kids, Sirius had only ever thought of him as a brother! 

... Right?

Except, no, he hadn't. James was his brother, Peter was his brother, _Lily_ had come to feel like a sister - the way he felt about them was nothing like the way he felt about Remus. The thrill down his spine when he saw him, the way his skin would tingle for hours after Remus had touched him, the list he'd not even realised he'd made in his head of all the places on Remus' body that Sirius wanted to kiss. It had been an eye opening evening, both the best and worst of his life. In one breath he realised that he was in love with his friend, and in the next he realised that friends was all they were every going to be.

Remus turned as they reached the last place setting. “I think we’re all done,” he observed.

They were around the other side of the table, trapped in the small gap in the corner of the room between the wall and the chairs.

“Yeah,” Sirius agreed, noting just how close they were. It would be so, so easy to just lean in and to-

“Oi, lovebirds, come on!” James called from the other side of the room. He was holding his polaroid camera, and Lily, Marlene and Peter were cramming together in front of the tree.

“Yeah, coming,” Remus said.

Sirius looked down and tried not to let the disappointment eat at him. There’d been a couple close calls where he thought that maybe- But he was just kidding himself. There was no way Remus felt the same. He wasn’t even sure Remus was gay. He’d never really shown any interest in anyone romantically in the years they’d been friends, part of the reason why his date had been so significant, though she was never seen again after that evening. It was a blessing not to have to watch Remus in love with anyone else, but also a curse for there not to be that extra layer of unattainability to keep Sirius from getting his hopes up too much.

“We better go,” Remus said, quieter, right into Sirius’ ear.

Sirius nodded and reached into the box for the last candy cane. He placed it down in his place and was about to turn and go join the photo when he saw Remus reach across him for the candy can at his own place. He turned it so that they overlapped. Sirius frowned for a moment before he realised what he was looking at.

A heart.

He gasped and was about to say something, when Marlene’s voice came, “Come ooooon!”

Remus guided Sirius by a gentle hand to his waist around the table. Sirius looked up at him as they went, and Remus just smiled back sheepishly, a blush high on his cheeks, just like before. It was a cathartic moment. Sirius grinned at him, then looked away and bit the inside of his cheek to try and stop himself from looking like a lout as he tossed the empty box on the sofa and joined in the picture. He was hyper aware of Remus’ arm around him as they posed while James took the shot.

Later that night, Remus kissed Sirius on the back doorstep while their friends danced to Mariah Carey inside, drunk on Mulled Wine. It tasted like Peppermint, and Sirius wondered if Christmas was all that bad, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you found this as cute as i did, lol.
> 
> anyway, if you wanna leave a comment or a kudos they're much appreciated! especially let me know if there's something you think i forgot to tag! 
> 
> i'm taking prompts! if you're interested please drop the prompt in the comments below. if you do send a prompt be prepared for me to take fifty years to fill it because _uni_ , but i promise i'll try! come say hi on tumblr: [@maddy-does](https://maddy-does.tumblr.com/)
> 
> thanks for reading, have a wonderful existence.


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